Shoulder injury ends Daniel Schlereth’s time in Detroit – MLB Update
Detroit Tigers have cut ties with left hand relief pitcher Daniel Schlereth, reports detroitnews.com. Schlereth, who pitched ten consecutive scoreless games in 2011, struggled to bring consistency in his game play right from the start of the season. After
starting the 2012 season poorly, Manager Jim Leyland sent him to the Minor League.
However, things did not go his way even in Triple A Toledo as he spent most part of the season on the Disabled List, recovering from a shoulder injury. Schlereth returned to make three more starts but struggled to make any kind of impression.
In an interview, Tigers’ General Manager Dave Dombrowski said it was a tough decision. However, the Tigers wanted to have some flexibility on their roster. Also, they believe Schlereth did not pitch well enough to win a place on Tigers’ big league roster.
"It's a tough decision," Dombrowski said, "but we wanted to have some flexibility on roster space and felt that flexibility was more valuable than tendering Daniel a contract when it was not definitive that he would make the club in the spring.”
The 26-year-old left hander was a first round draft pick by the Diamondbacks in 2008. However, he has not been able to live up to his potential in the Majors and the Tigers were not satisfied with his medical condition or Schlereth’s pitching quality as
it was not good enough to convince them. Plus, the reliever admitted himself that he pitched through pain during his shaky April.
"I think so — that was probably my fault," Schlereth said. "I guess I learned that lesson this year. Speak up if something's bothering me. But my personality — I'm not really wired like that.”
He added, "I probably did too much weightlifting, and with my body type, that was probably not a good idea. I tend to get a little bulky."
Overall, Schlereth was 4-2 in 73 games in his three year tenure in Detroit. It will be interesting to see if Schlereth, who is believed to have a very good fastball and curveballs, can gain some confidence to make a strong comeback.
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